Complimenting the hard work of the win at home to Boro last weekend, the Eagles returned from the Hawthorns with all three points after a very competent display. That makes it back-to-back wins and back-to-back clean sheets for a side that is now showing plenty of fight with a touch of composure to go with it. Plenty of hard work to come but progress is being made especially as the win takes Palace out of the bottom three.

13 Wayne Hennessey (7.2) – Hardly had anything to do as the home strike force offered very little but what they did conjure up was dealt with by the back line.

2 Joel Ward (7.9) – Solid display from the right back, seemingly gaining more confidence from those around him.

5 James Tomkins (7.8) – Another great showing in the heart of the defence having made what is a looking a formidable partnership with Sakho in such a short time.

12 Mamadhou Sakho (7.4) – Continues to impress in only his second start for the club, a beast and a bully in the back line and just what we needed in a defender. Hard to see Dann getting back into the side.

3 Patrick van Aanholt (7.1) – Forced off through injury but put in another valuable stint down the left, working well with what was mostly Zaha in front of him. Replaced by 31 Jeffrey Schlupp (6.8) on 62 minutes who acclimatised to the game quickly and slotted in confidently.

28 Luka Milivojevic (7.5) – Already a fan favourite but his impressive performances to date including this one is allowing Cabaye, for one, the freedom to play his natural game.

7 Yohan Cabaye (7.6) – Wonderful pass to find Zaha for the opening goal set the tone for another good showing from the Frenchman. Replaced by 6 Scott Dann (6.4) on 74 minutes who helped see out the latter part of the game and secure the win.

42 Jason Puncheon (7.2) – Two games as captain, two wins – coincidence? Maybe so, but it has given him a little something extra on the pitch and he appears to be revelling in the responsibility.

11 Wilfried Zaha (7.9) – A thorn in the side of the Baggies all afternoon, scored an excellent opener and was not far off getting his name on the score sheet again. Replaced by 18 James McArthur (6.3) on 86 minutes who can count himself unlucky not to be in the starting line up at the moment, but came on to provide much needed fresh legs.

10 Andros Townsend (8.7) – Arguably his best game in a Palace shirt, especially if you read the statistics below – what about that goal though? Picking the ball up on the edge of his own area and running the length of the pitch to fire past the goalkeeper. Just superb.

17 Christian Benteke (7.4) – Not among the goals in this one but played his part throughout with his work rate and geneal build up play. His movement to take players away from runs made by Zaha and Townsend proved just how positionally aware the big Belgian is.

‘This is a much bigger win than last weekend because to put back-to-back wins together at the Hawthorns is a big statement. It gives the players the confidence to push on and get out of the position we’re in. It was a quality performance and we deserved the three points. In terms of catching up on games and points, back-to-back wins make such a big difference. We’re working in that bottom seven league and trying to win that. We did the basics so well and the quality of both goals topped it. They barely had a shot on goal. I said the new players would make a difference and they have done that.’ – SAM ALLARDYCE courtesy of BBC Sport.

‘No excuses today. We weren’t at it right from the start. Congratulations to Palace. I’m not going to criticise the players because they have been fantastic this year. We’ve had an off day and I hope that is all it is. Why was it an off day? If I knew I’d be a genius. We’ve worked hard and trained hard this week. We were tepid right from the very beginning’ – TONY PULIS courtesy of BBC Sport.

MATCH STATISTICS

The Who Scored man of the match was Andros Townsend (8.7) who made it a clean sweep with the most shots (4), most tackles (7) and most dribbles (5).

Team rating: 6.24 – 7.37

Total shots: 11 – 10

Shots on target: 1 – 4

Possession: 51.5% – 48.5%

Pass success: 72% – 71%

Dribbles: 2 – 13

Aerials won: 13 – 36

Tackles: 13 – 20

Corners: 5 – 5

Dispossessed: 16 – 8

POSITION IN THE TABLE

Palace now have 25 points from 27 games and are 17th in the table, three points ahead of Middlesbrough in 18th and two points behind Swansea City, Leicester City and Bournemouth.

Jay Crame

Jay is the founder of TEB and site editor. An avid Palace fan since the late eighties with a passion for music and far too many other sports. Presenter and producer of The Meridian Sports Show on Meridian FM.